THE world’s biggest illegal streaming operation has been shut down after major action by police and a leading anti-piracy group.
Fmovies and other sites linked to the piracy ring attracted more than 6.7billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024, according to the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE).
The anti-piracy coalition is backed by some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Netflix, Disney, Universal and Amazon.
Police in Vietnam arrested two men in connection with the ring but have yet to be charged, according to Hollywood Reporter.
Bflixz, Flixtorz, Movies7 and Myflixer are also part of the illegal consortium that have been closed, as well as video hosting provider Vidsrc.to and its affiliated sites.
“The takedown of Fmovies is a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE.
“With the leadership of ACE and the partnership of the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Municipal Police, we are countering criminal activity, defending the safety of audiences, reducing risks posed to tens of millions of consumers, and protecting the rights and livelihoods of creators.”
The operation was launched back in 2016 and attracts nearly 374million visits a month.
At the height of its popularity in 2023, Fmovies ranked 280th of all websites globally.
It also came 11th in the TV, Movies & Streaming category, according to data from SimilarWeb.
Speaking to Variety, Rivkin said “we took down the mothership here”.
“There was a time when piracy was Whac-a-Mole…
“Today, we go after piracy at its root.”
It comes as anti-piracy groups step up their efforts against illegal streaming schemes.
In the UK, there have been a number of arrests against individuals running sites or selling modified Fire Sticks with access to premium channels like Premier League sport.
Two Brit brothers were sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison for running an illegal streaming ring that allegedly gave thousands of households cheap access to premium services.
Amir Butt, 56, was yesterday sentenced to seven years, after allegedly failing to appear in court.
While his brother Ammar Hussain, 39, was sentenced to four years.
The pair, from Ilford, east London, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud over a seven-year period between August 2012 and March 2019.
When an Amazon Fire Stick is ‘jailbroken’, it means a third-party media server software has been installed on it.
The software most commonly used on Fire Sticks is called Kodi.
It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn’t allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK.
The government outlined in 2017 that adapted Amazon Fire sticks and so-called ‘Kodi’ TV boxes were illegal.
This is because they breach intellectual property laws in not paying for the media content being watched.
“These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,” the government said at the time.
“They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.”
If users are watching content that would usually be free, however, then they would not be breaking any laws.
